


Great work!  Let's make this a bit harder!

by aewriting



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Almost no angst oh my god, Duolingo made me do it, Español | Spanish, Flooded my lessons with a bunch of past tense statements about love, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Homophobia, M/M, Short-lived Forlex, Which made me think of Malex of course
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25977628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aewriting/pseuds/aewriting
Summary: Alex is just trying to learn Spanish, but Duolingo is trying to play matchmaker.
Relationships: Forrest Long/Alex Manes, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 41
Kudos: 165





	Great work!  Let's make this a bit harder!

**Author's Note:**

> I have no excuse. This idea grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. Here it is. Gracias, Duolingo.

“What the actual hell?”

“Alex?”

Alex looks up from his phone. Forrest is standing at his kitchen counter, frowning slightly at him. “Everything okay?”

Alex rubs tiredly at his face, puts his phone to the side. “Yeah, fine. It’s just… have you ever used Duolingo?”

Forrest snorts a little. “I mean, yeah, a little bit. Why?”

Alex shakes his head slightly, looks away. “It’s, it’s nothing. Stupid.” He pauses. “I’ve been brushing up on my Spanish. It used to be a lot better, but with being away all these years, not using it…” He shrugs. “Figured I’d download Duolingo, start working through it, you know?”

Forrest’s brow is furrowed. “Don’t you have a bunch of friends that speak Spanish, though? Liz, her cousin?” He smiles a little, then. “Kyle? The doctor?” He raises an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t mind watching you and Dr. Kyle speaking Spanish to each other, you know?”

Alex fixes him with a look. “Yeah, they all speak it, it’s just… I dunno, I want to have at least the basics down before I go to them for help. I feel like once I have a good base again, I’ll ask one of them to do some practice with me.” He shakes his head. “I don’t even know what I want to get out of this, just figured it’s better than, like, mindless scrolling, you know?”

Forrest cocks his head to the side. “Sure.” He’s opening the fridge. “Want anything in your coffee?”

Alex’s mouth twitches a little. This is… far from his first morning after, with Forrest. He’s taken his coffee black. Every time. And yet, every time, Forrest offers him sugar, cream. He can’t decide if he’s just trying to be a good host or if he really doesn’t remember. “I’m good, thanks,” he says politely.

“Okay,” Forrest says with a smile and a wink. He’s in a t-shirt and boxers, barefoot, as he brings the two steaming mugs over to the couch where Alex is sitting. Places Alex’s on the coffee table and sits down next to Alex. Close enough to touch. 

“So what did Duo do to piss you off?” he asks, smirking.

Alex laughs a little, rolls his eyes.

“Come on, that’s not the face of a man who’s happy with an owl.”

Alex grabs for his mug, takes a sip. It’s good. _They’re_ good, right? Like, Forrest is nice. And trying. “It’s just, I’m learning tenses now. And I can’t figure out why in the world they choose the verbs they do. Like at a beginning level, you know?”

Forrest is looking amused. “Can you give an example?”

Alex sighs. “Like… love. I swear I have had about five questions all in a row about love. _Amor_. Did… did you love me? _Me amaste_? Then, _Sí, te amé_. Um, _mucho_.” Alex swallows, suddenly a little uncomfortable. “Like, it’s just, just kind of bullshitty, you know? Like, who needs to say that right away, in Spanish?” He glances around him, holds up his mug. “Like, be useful! Teach me how to say ‘I finished my coffee,’ you know?”

Forrest is looking at him a little oddly, then looks away. Blows on his coffee to cool it. “I have to imagine that a decent percentage of people use an app like that to… I dunno, impress someone? Someone they like?”

Alex looks at him quizzically. “You think?” He shakes his head. “I dunno, I would think it would be more for work. Travel. Even just, like, keeping your brain sharp, you know?”

Forrest eyes him. “I learned German for a guy.”

Alex scoffs. “Of course you did.”

“I mean, it was for a guy _and_ my research,” Forrest says playfully, nudging at Alex with his shoulder.

“Multitasking,” Alex says wryly.

“You know it,” Forrest says with a small smile, which disappears quickly. “You… you ever actually said it to someone?”

Alex looks at him, confused.

“In, in English, I mean,” Forrest clarifies, but Alex is still looking at him blankly. “Ever said I love you?” Forrest swallows, a little nervous. “I mean, this is not a pressure thing – these are early days, I know that. But… but I know you were pretty closed off, when we met. Just made me wonder if you ever had something serious? With someone?”

Alex’s jaw is tight as he responds. “I’ve never said I love you.”

***

“Oh, fuck you, Duo,” Alex mutters, clicking off the phone and putting it face down on the table.

“Who’s Duo?” Rosa asks, suddenly right in front of Alex’s booth. “And what did he do to you?”

Alex laughs at that. “It’s an app. Teaches you different languages. Makes it like a little game.”

Rosa quirks an eyebrow. “And what language are you learning, _Alejandro_?”

Alex chuckles. “Spanish.”

“Ahhh,” Rosa says, sliding next to him in the booth. “Por qué? Un hombre?” she asks suggestively.

“No!” Alex exclaims. “Why does everyone think that? No, I just wanted to try to get back some of the Spanish I lost over the years. I mean, I’m living in New Mexico now, and I’m embarrassed by how much I’ve forgotten.” Rosa’s just looking at him, eating one of his French fries. “Seriously, why does everyone think I’m doing this for a guy?”

“Um, because you and Forrest broke up, and now you’re back on the market?”

Alex’s mouth drops open. “How did you know that?”

“Small town,” Rosa says, popping another fry in her mouth. “I hear things.”

Alex shakes his head a little. “Well,” he says, eager to change the topic. “I think even Duo thinks I’m doing this for… certain reasons.”

Rosa’s face twists a little. “Okay, who the hell is Duo?”

Alex picks up the phone, unlocks it. Frowns as he looks at the screen.

“’The man has curly hair,’” Rosa reads, grabbing the phone from Alex. “Okay…” she says, giving Alex a sidelong glance.

Alex snatches the phone back from her. “Here,” he says shortly. “You just need to do a few, get them right, then…” He quickly presses some buttons, holds up the phone. “Here. This is Duo. He’s this little green owl, and he’s supposed to, like, encourage you, but sometimes if you go a few days without practicing he just ends up, like, harassing you.”

“ _Great work! Let’s make this a bit harder!_ ’” Rosa reads with fake enthusiasm as she looks at the screen. “Harder, eh? That how you like it, Alejandro?”

“Rosa,” Alex warns, half-heartedly.

She grabs the phone again. “I wanna do one.”

“You _speak_ Spanish already.”

“Oooh, matching!” she exclaims. “ _Montar_ … well that’s easy. To ride.” She sets the phone to the side, fixes Alex with a suggestive look. “Alejandro, seriously, what have you told Duo here?”

“Shut up.”

***

“What the hell?” Alex mutters, rereading the sentence. The screen is a little hard to see in the bright sun.

“Something wrong?” Michael asks, closer than Alex realized. “Besides your brake pads, that is.”

Alex sighs, pockets the phone. “Yeah, about those.”

“It’ll be about an hour still. Want to wait for it?”

Alex glances around the junkyard. No one’s here, the weather’s pleasant. “I’ll wait.”

“Okay,” Michael says, turning and making his way toward Alex’s car. A part of Alex hopes he’ll turn back around and… what? Visit? Shoot the shit? With a sigh, Alex takes the phone out again. “I’ve never had a cat that speaks,” he mutters. “ _Yo_ … _nunca_ … _he_ … _tenido_ …”

“You should’ve brought this in earlier.”

Alex clicks off the phone again, rolls his eyes a bit. “Yes. Thank you, Michael.”

Michael raises his hands in faux surrender. “Hey, I’m just saying.” He sighs a little. “Glad you brought it in.” He looks like he’s about to turn around again, but instead he squints at Alex. At the phone. “Who you texting?”

Alex narrows his eyes, looks at Michael. Michael, who seems awkward, suddenly. Alex watches as he runs his hand through his curls, shrugs a little. “Nevermind, none of my – “

“It’s Duolingo,” Alex says.

Michael sticks out his lip a little, and Alex has to look away quickly. “That the app that teaches you different languages?”

“Yeah,” Alex says. “I’ve been trying to improve my Spanish.”

“Ahh,” Michael says, like he knows something Alex doesn’t. “Certainly can’t hurt. ‘Round these parts.”

“What?”

Michael shrugs. “You know. Lots of people here speak it. And you’re here for a while, right? Till you get out?” he says, slight edge of bitterness to his voice, the way there always is whenever Alex’s military service gets mentioned.

“This whole thing just started out of embarrassment, actually,” Alex says, and Michael looks at him, confused. “I knew way more Spanish back in school than I know now. Like, I remember the good stuff – curse words, things like that,” he says with a smile. “But it’s like my brain completely blocked out all the grammar rules.” He shrugs. “But sometimes they put together the most bizarre questions. Like this one,” he says, clicking on the phone and bringing up the half-finished item. “ _I’ve never had a cat that speaks._ ”

Michael barks out a laugh. “Who the fuck has?” he asks. Then grins. “ _Yo nunca he tenido un gato que habla_.”

“What?” Alex laughs. “I didn’t know you knew Spanish!”

Michael shrugs. “I’m not, like, fluent, in it.”

“You were able to just translate some nonsense sentence off the top of your head,” Alex says skeptically.

“Okay,” Michael says. “I have a good memory, you know that. Picked up a lot when I was working at Foster Ranch, right out of high school. I definitely know how to tell you to fix a fence, ride a horse, that kind of thing.”

“ _Montar_ ,” Alex murmurs, remembering his chat with Rosa.

Michael looks at him a little strangely. “Yeah.” He looks for a moment like he might say more, but doesn’t. Exhales loudly and gestures to the car. “Well, I better get back to it,” he says.

“Yeah, of course, don’t want to delay you or anything.”

“Yeah,” Michael says. Grins. “Just give a shout if you get stumped.”

***

(One month later. The Wild Pony.)

“ _Dúo surfea muy bien._ ”

“Duo surfs very well,” Michael translates. “Because of fucking course he does.”

“You seriously know a lot of Spanish. You’re not even looking at the screen.” Alex hits continue. Freezes. “I’ll just do this one,” he says hastily, pushing buttons.

“Too tough?”

Alex looks at the screen. _Te quiero._ “Yeah,” he says with a thin smile. “Too tough.”

***

(Two months later. Crashdown.)

“Podemos usar Internet en cualquier lugar.”

Michael’s eyes narrow. “We can use the Internet anywhere,” he translates. “Easy. Hit me again.”

“Okay,” Alex says, bringing up the next screen and reading the Spanish quickly. “Siempre te he amado.”

He looks at Michael questioningly… Michael, who looks stricken.

“Michael?” Alex asks, frowning.

Michael chuckles a little. “Um, I‘ve always loved you. That’s what it says, _siempre te he amado_.”

Alex looks down at the little word options at the bottom of the screen. Fuck. That’s definitely the answer, but he doesn’t punch it in. Not yet. Keeps looking at Michael. They… they’ve been dancing around each other, around this, for months. Years, really, if he’s being honest.

“ _Siempre te he amado_ ,” he repeats quietly. Swallows. “It’s the truth,” he says finally.

“ _Es la verdad_ ,” Michael mumbles, still looking away. “Next?”

Alex puts the phone down. “No, Michael. No. I mean… I mean, yes, I guess it _is la verdad_ , like that’s the Spanish for it, but… but I was trying to, to say…”

Michael has gone very still now, is just looking at Alex. “What, Alex?” he breathes. “What were you trying to say?”

“I’ve always loved you, Michael. That… that’s the truth.”

“You, you being serious right now, Alex?”

Alex nods his head quickly. “Yes, Michael. This isn’t… isn’t Duolingo Spanish, right now. This is me. And you. God,” he says, feeling the flush creep across his face. “We have enough trouble just being straight with each other in English.”

A slow grin starts spreading across Michael’s face. “If you really think about it, we’ve _never_ been straight with each other.”

And Alex can’t help his own smile, either. “Definitely not.”

“Not at all,” Michael says, sobering a bit. 

“We’ve worked so hard,” Alex says softly. “At, at building something between us. Something new. Like, a real friendship.”

“That’s what you said you wanted,” Michael says, a little edge to his voice.

“That and more, Michael,” Alex says. “I want more. If, if you do, too.”

“I do,” Michael says, biting his lip. He looks down at their shared booth, looks back up. “I’ve always loved you, too, Alex. Still do.”

The phone emits a little ding, and Alex looks down.

It’s Duo. Waving.

“Perfect timing,” Michael says wryly. “What does that little fucker want?”

“Wants to tell us ‘ _Great work!’_ ,” Alex reads. “ _’Let’s make this a bit harder!_ ’” He laughs a little, at that, looks at Michael, and shrugs. “Ready if you are?” he says, a question in his voice.

Michael smiles at him, big and genuine. “Well if Duo says so, let’s give it a go.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Come say hello (or hola) on tumblr (aewriting).


End file.
